Swampscott Hawthorne Property Debate Extended As Town Meeting Approves Lease Option

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — The impassioned debate about both the short- and long-term future of the oceanfront Hawthorne property that Swampscott bought for $7 million three years ago extended into a special town meeting at which members voted to extend a lease option for the restaurant building for up to 2 1/2 more years on Monday night.

The Select Board unanimously supported the option that members said would allow the town to keep the current building occupied and producing some tax revenue, while a long-term redevelopment of the site is realized.

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Those who opposed the article authorizing the extended lease option, including members of the Hawthorne Reuse Committee who voted 10-0 to support the eventual demolition of the existing restaurant, argued that the extended lease only further delays the redevelopment of a preferred option that includes an oceanfront park and mixed retail along Humphrey Street.

"A vacant building is not a boogeyman to be feared," Hawthorne Reuse Committee Chair Brian Watson said. "Especially, by contrast, to the cost of the alternative, and especially if it is ultimately going to be demolished. The town would not have to maintain the building. The town would not have to repair the building."

Watson said the demolition of the restaurant building could be negotiated into the redevelopment contract for the entire site, but that extending the lease option would delay — and could ultimately derail — the ideal public oceanfront view that is currently blocked by the restaurant and the need for a parking lot to serve an open business.

The Athanas Family operated the restaurant for an additional two years after selling the property to the town before closing for good and auctioning off the equipment and decor this past month. The approval on Monday night allows the town to issue a Request for Proposal for another potential restaurant or hospitality business to rent the property for up to 30 months.

Select Board member Doug Thompson said that the lease option is not a long-term replacement for the ideal of an oceanfront park, along with some type of commercial development, but that extending the option keeps the site active while those plans are being finalized.

"We are basically, simply asking for a little bit more time to explore what could be an even better solution," Thompson said. "We don't know for sure. It may be. It may not be. We do recognize that it's going to take a lot of support. ... So we're trying to assemble the pieces to ensure that we can put together that coalition.

"What's in front of us tonight is not the long-term solution. I think we can all agree that there is a lot we don't know about the long-term solution. The Reuse Committee has put together a very nice picture. But it's a long way from that picture to a reality."

Select Board Chair Katie Phelan said the lease option will provide the town with more information, time, and potential revenue, while the work of the Reuse Committee is reviewed. She also noted that the process of determining the future of the site was essentially rebooted only last year after an initial proposal for an oceanfront library and event center received a negative public response.

"Even if we decided today to go with the recommendation that the Reuse Committee put forward," Phelan said, "that process takes time to negotiate. So if we wanted to demolish the building ... and develop mixed-use property, and the developer would pay for (the demolition), it would take probably 18 to 24 months."

Phelan said it must still be determined whether there should be a residential component to the development, which she noted at a previous Select Board meeting was against the wishes of some of the early resident surveys on the future of the site.

The lease extension, it was argued, would also allow time for the town to continue discussions to potentially purchase a portion of the adjacent church parking lot to free up even more options for the space.

The lease extension was approved through a hand vote, with Moderator Michael McClung determining that a specific vote count was not necessary.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)